Today's News

Editor’s Note: This information is taken from open court records and is a matter of public record. The listings are complete. The newspaper, as a matter of fairness, will not honor requests to omit any listing. For additional information on this column or questions, call 236-5178, ext. 213.

Circuit Court

These sentences were recorded in March in the office of Susan M. Herrington, clerk of the Grayson County Circuit Court, Independence. Sentences may be appealed:

Editor’s Note: This information is taken from open court records and is a matter of public record. The listings are complete. The newspaper, as a matter of fairness, will not honor requests to omit any listing. For additional information on this column or questions, call 236-5178, ext. 213.

Land Transfers

These land transfers were recorded in February in the office of Gerald Goad, clerk of the Carroll County Circuit Court, Hillsville:
Mark William Warren to Amanda G. Ayers. Five acres in the Pine Creek District. $150,000.

Don’t mess with texting
I have a creek that runs through my property and a beautiful place to camp out. Last week some of my relatives came to camp out and I decided to go sit by the campfire and talk. All they wanted to do was text on their cell phones. The next day I went to the supermarket and people were standing in the middle of the aisles texting on their phones and I had to ask them to please move. What has happened to the good ole days when you could have a conversation with people and enjoy your shopping at the supermarket?

The owner of a car that caught fire on a wooded path off Davis Knob Road last Wednesday has been identified by Grayson Sheriff Richard Vaughan.

According to Vaughan, it belongs to John Lyle, a Galax-area resident.

“We talked to him, and he advised us that his car broke down in that area,” explained Vaughan. “He slept in the woods that night,” before the fire, and left his car. “It caught fire at about noon the next day.”

A Southwest Virginia delegate is working on legislation to abolish state income taxes for 10 years in the poorest counties and cities, as a means of helping them get back on their feet economically.

The legislation, if adopted, would apply to individuals, businesses and local governments in selected areas. Currently, it appears this would cover a large swath of Southwest Virginia, including the coalfields and possibly the Twin Counties.

This would also, in theory, help reduce population loss and perhaps reverse it.

It’s a little mystery that Galax-area voters have almost figured out, but not quite. Why are realtors, the health industry, beer wholesalers and bankers, coal operators and electric utilities shoving all that cash into the Virginia legislature?

INDEPENDENCE — Dr. Sidney Harvey, a former superintendent and educator with Grayson County Public Schools, passed away this week after a long illness.

Harvey dedicated more than 40 years of service in education, many of those years with the Grayson County school system.

Harvey served the county from 1964, when he came in as supervisor and later director of instruction. He served as the system’s assistant superintendent of instruction before he became superintendent in 1986. He served as the superintendent through 1995.